Washington, D.C. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO Nina Rees released the following statement today on the Wisconsin Legislatures Joint Finance Committees vote on the K-12 education budget:
“Today, the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee enacted provisions within the K-12 education budget that will finally allow independent charter schools statewide. Most notably, the Office of Educational Opportunity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will now have the ability to authorize independent charter schools across the state, not just in Milwaukee and Madison.
“Independent charter schools are given the flexibility to innovate while being accountable for improved student achievement. Independent charter schools are unique public schools that foster a partnership between parents, teachers and students to create an environment in which parents can be more involved, teachers are given the freedom to innovate, and students are provided the structure they need to learn with all three held accountable for improved student achievement. The independent charter schools in Milwaukee are the highest performing sector of public schools in the city.
“The National Alliance would like to take this opportunity to thank legislative leaders, especially Senator Alberta Darling and Representative Dale Kooyenga, for their hard work on these budget provisions. We commend Senator Darling’s and Representative Kooyenga’s steadfast leadership to create an environment more supportive of high-quality public charter school options for Wisconsin students.”
About Public Charter Schools
Public charter schools are independent, public, and tuition-free schools that are given the freedom to be more innovative while being held accountable for advancing student achievement. Since 2010, many research studies have found that students in charter schools do better in school than their traditional school peers. For example, one study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found that charter schools do a better job teaching low income students, minority students, and students who are still learning English than traditional schools. Separate studies by the Center on Reinventing Public Education and Mathematica Policy Research have found that charter school students are more likely to graduate from high school, go on to college, stay in college and have higher earnings in early adulthood.
About the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the public charter school movement. Our mission is to lead public education to unprecedented levels of academic achievement by fostering a strong charter sector. For more information, please visit www.publiccharters.org.
